Aatrox, Qiyana, and Akali may see nerfs in patch 9.17

Riot is shifting gears towards balancing for Worlds.

According to a new change list posted by Riot game designer Mark "Scruffy" Yetter, Aatrox, Akali, and Qiyana may all receive nerfs in next week's Patch 9.17. If the changes were to hit live, this would be the fifth time since the start of Season Nine that Akali has received some sort of nerf.

If you've even caught a glimpse of any professional match from any region this year, you've definitely seen at least one of these champions either picked or banned. All three of them have seen an incredibly high presence in pro play throughout the Summer Split.

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In a patch schedule released last month, Riot disclosed that patches from now until the beginning of Preseason will all be minor updates geared towards shaping a healthy meta for Worlds while at the same time keeping things from getting stale.

Patch 9.17 is one of the last patches before 9.19, the Worlds patch. Depending on how severe the nerfs to these prominent solo laners are, the meta could be shifting more towards control mages in the mid lane and more counter-picks in the top lane.

Patch 9.17 is scheduled to go live on Wednesday, August 28. These changes will be available for testing on the PBE soon.